We Are All Right (Bruce Banner x Reader)
by Engaru
Summary: You meet a handsome doctor in the countryside in Brazil, but soon things go wrong. Who is Bruce Banner and where did he go? Bruce/Reader
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, _me desculpe. (Excuse me.)_" I said as I bumped on someone in a busy small town marketplace. It was a hot and sunny day and my large sunhat prevented me from seeing well on the sides.  
"_Não é nada. (It's nothing.)_", a pleasant male voice answered behind me. As I turned to face the owner of the voice, I noticed he looked pleasant too. He wasn't tall, but his eyes were warm brown behind his square glasses. He wasn't old either, maybe in his mid-thirties, but his chocolate hair had grey bits in it. He was wearing a purple button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and with the upper collar buttons open. The colour looked incredibly good on him.

I bent to pick up the book he'd dropped and handed it back to him.  
"Thanks." he said, took it with a small smile and I smiled back at him. I didn't miss the change in the language, so I jokingly asked, "What gave me away as non-Brazilian?"  
"You just didn't seem like a local." He answered while putting the book in his bag, so it wouldn't fall again.  
"Well, neither do you." I commented.  
"Well, you're not wrong. Bruce Banner." He extended his hand toward me, and I took it.  
"(F/N) (L/N)."

"Well look who it is." I smiled as I saw him the next day. I leaned casually on the door frame that had already seen it's best days. Dr. Banner raised his head from his papers and after a moment of confusion passing in his eyes, he recognized me.  
"Hello again." he said, offering a smile while taking off his glasses.  
"Hi." I entered the small house Dr. Banner used as his clinic. He set the papers on the table next to him and got up.  
"Ms. (L/N), right?" he confirmed and I nodded.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I heard from my neighbours that you are here. They were pleased with you, so I wanted to see your clinic." I answered, smiling at him kindly.  
"It's not much, but works well enough." Dr. Banner shrugged.  
"I was wondering if I could give you a hand here?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I'm a doctor myself too. Well, I was. Haven't worked in a few years. But I could help you, if you want? My days tend to get boring." I offered.

Dr. Banner looked at me, then turned his gaze away, twisting his hands. He seemed nervous.  
'Maybe he doesn't like me?', I thought.  
"You don't have to say yes, though. I don't mind." I hurried to say, even if it wasn't completely truthful. His eyes darted to meet mine, then to the floor and back to me.  
"No, no. It would be nice to have someone to talk to. It's just...I haven't been around people much lately, except my patients, so..."  
"You're afraid you're rusty?" I finished his sentence.  
"Yes."  
"That's okay. I'm not super social either, Dr. Banner."  
"Well, if you really wouldn't mind, I'd love the company and the help. And please, call me Bruce." he held his hand out with a smile. I shook the hand, surprised how warm it was.  
"If you'll call me (F/N)."

Bruce was about to explode, or at least that's how he felt. Not in the 'other-guy's-breaking-free' kind of exploding, but in anxious 'what-if-I-blow-everything-up' kind of exploding. He hadn't told her his worst secret, the reason he was hiding in the countryside of Brazil and avoiding major cities. The reason he'd ended up eventually meeting her. He just couldn't tell. He liked (F/N) too much to lose now, and that's what would most likely happen if she knew what he was. Bruce shook his head before his mind started to create pictures of her disgusted and fearful expression.  
This was exactly the reason why Bruce avoided people he'd grow too attached to. It always knew more pain for him, for them, for everybody. And the last thing he wanted to do was to hurt her. Bruce really liked her. He sighed and rubbed his temples.

The whole day had been a disaster. For some reason Bruce had felt uneasy since the morning, and almost yelled at (F/N). He managed to keep his composure, but it wasn't easy. Not with the increasing anxiety. He checked his pulse the hundreth time in fifteen minutes, finding it a bit too high.  
"Bruce, is everything okay?" I asked, starting to get worried about his behaviour. Sure, Bruce had his nervous traits, but this was getting weird. I finished the stitches I had been putting on a young boy's arm, and sent him away with some antibiotics. I turned to fully face Bruce, crossing my arms on my chest. He didn't look at me, but I saw from his back that he was extremely tense.  
"Seriously, Bruce. Are you okay?"  
He turned toward me, but before he could say anything, his head snapped to the ceiling and he listened intensely. The he ran outside, without offering any kind of explanation. I stared at the now empty spot he'd been only a second ago, and ran after him. Now I could hear the noise, too. Choppers, maybe two or three, judging by the sound. But why would Bruce run because of those? I tried desperately to keep up with him in the jungle, but he was a lot faster than me.

After ten minutes of sweaty running, I finally found him standing and catching his breath. His eyes darted immediately to me as he heard me approaching and his expression became pained.  
"(F/N), why did you follow me? It's not safe."  
"What? I don't understand." I huffed, trying to breathe steadily. "What's going on?" I asked, looking at the sky and leaning on my knees, as the choppers came closer.  
"They're after me..." Bruce said quietly, almost to himself. I was about to ask who were after him, when the choppers opened fire with no warning what-so-ever. Shrieking, I tried to find cover. These guys were insane! I grabbed Bruce by his hand and started to drag him with me somewhere, but he didn't even inch. He screamed in agony and his clothes ripped, only his pants remained.

Bruce tried to fight against the Hulk, but from the experience he knew it was useless. The gunfire and (F/N)'s screaming combined with the stressful morning had took all his strength to fight back. He managed to shot a glance toward her before Hulk took over. As he'd thought, she looked horrified.

"Holy shit!" I managed to whisper in horror, as I watched something green, growling and BIG take Bruce's place. Slowly I moved backwards until I stumbled on a rock behind me and fell on my behind.  
"Ow..."  
The thing in front of me turned toward my voice. For a moment the two of us just stared each other, he breathing heavily. Instead of Bruce's warm brown eyes, a pair of emerald green ones focused on my (E/C) eyes.  
"Bruce...?" I asked cautiously while trying to get up, avoiding sudden movements. I almost managed the task, but a sharp pain on my left leg caused me to falter and almost fall again. I hissed in pain as I tried to steady yourself. My mind rang the alarms as a large, green hand came closer to me, but the pain I was expecting never came. Instead, he wrapped his hand surprisingly gently around my waist and held me upright.

The choppers fired at us – at him – again. He held me close to his chest, shielding me from the bullets, as he jumped in the air. Scared of the sudden take off, I clutched on to his hand afraid I'd fall to the ground. But he held me tight as he jumped fast away from the jungle and the choppers, back to the small clinic. With a quiet grunt Bruce – or was this thing even Bruce anymore? - lowered me to the ground and jumped away. I heard the choppers approach behind me, but I didn't care. Minding the hurt leg, I used the house's windowsill to pull myself up. When I was in a somewhat upright position, I looked back at the sky, but couldn't see him anymore. This felt an awful lot like a goodbye.

Six months later I was still living in that village in Brazil, running Bruce's clinic. After a quiet day at work, I returned to my apartment. I opened the door and lifted the pile of mail from my doormat and stepped in. Flipping through the mail I found a newspaper, a couple of bills and … a postcard?  
"That's weird." I mumbled under my breath and inspected the card closer. It was a simple, yet beautiful scenery card. I turned it over, expecting to find somekind of explanation, but all there read was:

_I miss you. I'm so sorry.  
B._

My hand rose to cover my mouth as I read the two sentences over and over again. The card was from Bruce. It had to be. I turned the card over again and stared at the picture, trying to decide where it had been taken. It looked like India, but I wasn't sure, so I scanned the card and ran it through a web search.  
"It IS India. Thought so."

It didn't take me too long to arrange a flight to India, and now I walked in the busy street in Calcutta. It was, if possible, even hotter here than it had been in Brazil and I thought I'd melt at any moment. After I had rented a room and left my few luggage there, I engaged in the searching for a certain doctor. Knowing him he wouldn't be in the city but outside it, so I headed there.

Once I got out of the city to the slums, I started asking people. After showing Bruce's picture to at least 70 people, the whole thing started to feel utterly useless. No one had seen him, or at least they didn't tell me if they had.  
"I'll ask one more time and then head back to the city." I thought and knocked on a makeshift door.  
A small girl answered the door, looking at me curiously.  
"Hello. Have you seen this man? He's a doctor and a friend of mine." I asked and showed the picture, not knowing if the girl understood me. The girl looked at it and smiled. Then she nodded. My expression lit up.  
"You have? Where?"  
She pointed toward the identical slum houses.  
"Uh." What did she mean? Those houses looked exactly the same to me. The girl giggled at my confusion, said something in a language I didn't know and took me by the hand. She led me away from the slums to a clearing. There stood one miserable hut that looked like it would collapse. She pointed the house and smiled. I smiled back at her and dug my pockets. I found some candies and gave them to her as a thank you. Her little face glowed as she turned away and ran back to the village.

Cautiously I approached the hut. It reminded a lot the small clinic Bruce had in Brazil. To be polite, I knocked on the door and waited. Would he be there and what would he say when he saw me? Maybe he didn't want to see me?  
I didn't have much time to panic before the door opened and revealed Bruce. His hair was a mess and he had a week old stubble. He looked absolutely shocked.  
"You have some explaining to do, mister." I stated half-jokingly and smiled, regaining my composure.  
"(F/N)? Wha- How- Um." Bruce ran his hand through his hair in an desperate attempt to clean himself up, and forgot it on his head. He looked comical, standing there keeping the door open with his one hand and the other one in his hair and looking like he'd been struck by the lightning.  
"Are you inviting me in or not?" I asked, shifting my weight from one leg to another uncomfortably. That woke Bruce up so he stepped away from the door to let me in.  
"Oh, uh, yes. Please come on in." he stuttered as he closed the door after me.

Bruce motioned towards a well worn set of table and two chairs and I took a seat. He sat on the opposite side of the table.  
"How did you find me?" he asked after a moment of silence.  
"I searched the picture online and booked a flight right away. Then I just asked around. I suspected you'd be in the outskirts of the city, so that gave me some idea of where to look for you."  
Bruce nodded and smiled a bit.  
"I actually hoped that you would find me, (F/N). I just didn't think you would, or at least that you'd be this quick. You outsmarted me."  
I blushed slightly at the praise and smiled at him.

"What happened in Brazil?" I asked, deciding it was best to just ask bluntly. Bruce's gaze averted from my eyes, a habit I'd noticed he had when he was nervous. I took his hands gently in mine and gave them an encouraging squeeze. He looked at our joined hands and took a shaky breath.  
"I had a gamma radiation accident a couple of years back, which leaded to me to have this...other side to me. His name is Hulk. Whenever I get angry or my pulse gets too high, he takes my place. That's what you saw in Brazil. The choppers were after me, because the few people who know about me, think I'm dangerous and should be eliminated. So far no one has managed to do that, not even myself, but..." he cut off and cleared his throat. I just stared at him, still holding his hands.

"I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to get into this mess. I understand if you don't want to see me again." Bruce said quietly, ready to let go of her hands. Instead I held even tighter and stood up. I circled around the table and hugged him from behind.  
"Thank you for telling me this, Bruce. And I'm afraid you are stuck with me, I'm not going anywhere."  
"Unless you want me to." I continued softly, as Bruce turned to hug my waist.  
"No, stay. Please."  
I ran your fingers through his thick hair, gently cupping his neck with the other one, chuckling.  
"I will."

I'd convinced Bruce to come with me to the room I'd rented. I really didn't trust the shack not to fall on us and more importantly, the room has an air conditioning. Bruce agreed that the place was better than the hut and had brought his posessions there. He seemed to be very flustered about the sleeping arragements, though. Since the room wasn't a spacious suite or anything, and our stuff took a great part of the little space, we had to put our matresses next to each other. I didn't mind, it felt cozy actually. As we turned up for the night, he layed himself timidly next to me.  
"Good night." he said.  
"Sleep tight." I answered.  
Bruce was soon snoring quietly, but I couldn't sleep. It was way too hot for that. After a while I gave up and went to get some ice from the hallway. I hogged 4 bags of ice and returned to the room. I decided the bathtub would be the best for this, and carried the ice there as quietly as I could, and emptied the bags in the tub. Since the tap didn't know such a concept as 'cold water', I thought pouring any water on my precious ice would not be wise. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me before stepping into the ice. At first the cold stopped my breathing, but then it felt heavenly.

I managed almost fell asleep, but then the awesome coldness turned into too cold and I had to jump out of the tub and fetch my blanket. Despite the duvet, I was shaking uncontrollably, so I wrapped all the towels I could find around me, too. It didn't help. Not before too long, I was hot again. I decided against going into the tub again, and filled one of the towels with ice and held it on my head.  
'Great. I'm going to have a fever, aren't I?' I thought as the change of my body's temperature continued. Then the world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Bruce woke up early in the morning to find the other matress empty.  
'That's strange. Usually she doesn't wake up before noon.' he thought as he got up and stretched.  
'I wonder where she went...' Bruce continued his thoughts and walked to the bathroom. As he saw (F/N) there his blood ran cold. She sat on the floor, leaning against the tub, her head lolled on her chest and hands on her sides. On one hand she had a wet towel and near her feet a large pile of towels and blankets. Bruce hurried to her side and gently lifted her head.  
"(F/N)? (F/N)!" he called her, but got no answer. Bruce's doctor instinct kicked in and he decided she needed to be examined. He lifted her up carefully, carried her out of the bathroom and lowered to her bed. For the very first thing Bruce took her temperature. The blankets and empty ice bags he'd seen in the bathroom indicated that she'd been treating a fever last night. Once the thermometer beeped, he got a confirmation for his thoughts.

'40.3°C .' Bruce read the meter and got worried. 'I need to cool her down, quickly.'  
He risked to go out of the room to get more ice, and ask someone to get medicine for him. He didn't want to leave (F/N) alone for that long time, not yet. One of the other residents in the building, an elderly woman, agreed to go to the pharmacy as Bruce quickly explained the situation to her in his broken hindi and gave her the money. Then he ran back to the room the two of you shared, and checked on you. Not better, not worse.  
Bruce filled a pillowcase with ice and put it on her forehead to keep her from overheating, as he covered her in blankets, hoping that she would just sweat the fever away. The neighbour, who had gotten the medicine, came back quicker than Bruce thought she would, and he thanked her voluminously. The woman smiled and said it was nothing, then cast her eyes on (F/N).  
"_Vo thikh ho jayegi? (Will she be alright?)_" she asked, a worried tone in her voice. Bruce turned to watch her too, and a pained look came to his eyes.  
"_Mujh ko umeedh hai. (I hope so.)_"  
The woman smiled at Bruce compassionaly, put her hand on his shoulder and said,  
_" M__ujh ko bulana agar aap ko mudutth chahiyé hai. (Call for me if you need help.)_", before leaving the room.

Bruce closed the door and went to (F/N). He mixed a bit of the medicine with water, lifted her to half sitting position against his chest and tried to get her to drink. It was difficult, but Bruce was positive she got some of the medicine.

Bruce barely slept that night, or the next. He wanted to keep an eye on (F/N), so if her condition had any change, he'd know. As the sun rose in the morning Bruce was tired, but when he took her temperature again, he cheered up a bit. '38.5°C.' he read and sighed in relief. Bruce slumped on his own matress and allowed himself some rest now that (F/N) wasn't in immediate danger.

Bruce woke up at some time during the day, feeling disoriented. Staying up all night had never really been his forte, not to mention staying up two nights.  
"Good morning, messyhead."  
Bruce bolted up and his head whipped immediately to his left as he heard her voice. He crawled to sit on his knees next to her, being very cautious not to stomp on her, and put his hand on her forehead.  
"Thank goodness, you woke up." Bruce breathed barely audible and added, "But you still have pretty high temperature..."

"What happened?" I asked weakly. "I remember taking an icebath, then... nothing."  
"You must have passed out from the fever, because I found you unconscious in the bathroom two days ago." Bruce answered, dabbing my forehead and cheeks with a moist cloth. It felt awesome. I was remotely embarrassed because I probably wasn't the prettiest sight at the moment. Or the best-smelling either, for that matter, but I was too tired to concentrate on that.  
"Oh. What's the diagnosis?"  
"...I'm starting to suspect malaria, but I'd need a blood test to be sure."

The same night there was a knock on the door. Lazily I turned my head towards it, wondering who it might be. Bruce answered the door and I heard him and some woman talking but I couldn't understan a word, so soo I lost my interest and closed my eyes.  
"(F/N)?" I heard Bruce call me gently, as if to check if I was asleep.  
"Hnh?" I opened my eyes again and saw him stand in the foot of my matress, some old woman standing behind him.  
"This is Sandhya. She asked me to go check some very sick relative of hers and I kind of owe her for getting you the medicine...so...I won't be away for long and she will stay here with you. Okay?"  
"Yeah." I nodded slightly and smiled at Sandhya, who smiled back and came to sit in a chair near my bed.  
"I'll be off then."Bruce said, took his medic bag and left.  
Most of the day and evening I drifted in and out of consciousness. When Sandhya saw I was awake, she offered me water and helped me to drink it. She also spoke to me, but I couldn't understand a word. 'I need to ask Bruce to teach me Hindi.' I made a mental note to myself. It was still nice to listen to her.

–

"You should've got paid up front, Banner." Bruce huffed, feeling himself a fool for following the child. He was about to leave the hut, when he heard a female voice say, "You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle."  
Bruce turned around and saw a redheaded woman come behind the corner.  
"Avoiding the stress isn't the secret." he answered.  
"Then what is it? Yoga?"

–

He came back late at night. I heard him but I was too tired to open my eyes. The medicine had worn out, and I wasn't feeling too well. He said something to Sandhya and I heard the door click shut after her. I felt Bruce's ever so warm hand, which now felt blissfully cool, first on my cheek and then on my forehead.  
"(F/N)? Are you still with me?" he asked. I nodded a bit, but my head begun spinning.  
"Bad idea." I muttered and frowned. Bruce ran his thumb soothingly over my temple. I cracked my eyes open slightly.  
"(F/N), I'm sorry but we need to leave. This is Agent Romanoff of S.H.I.E.L.D." The woman behind him acknowledged me with a small bow of her head and Bruce continued, "Apparently they need me in the States again. They need a gamma radiation expert."  
"That's cool."  
"And I need to get you to a hospital, I'm getting worried because your fever hasn't broken yet."  
"Do you have any luggage?" Agent Romanoff asked almost lazily.  
"Yes." Bruce quickly emptied the small room and stuffed the clothes, books and other things into a few bags. I noted happily that he packed my things too.  
"Ready? I'll take those, you take her." the agent said as Bruce handed her the bags. Then he came to me and picked me up, keeping sure I was still wrapped in the blanket. He carried me down the stairs, out of the building and put me in the back seat of a car. He sat next to me and Agent Romanoff drove us somewhere.

The next time I woke up I was laying on a leather seat in...a jet? I couldn't see anyone but I did see a waterbottle on the other side of the aisle. I extended my hand to grab the bottle, but I couldn't reach it.  
"Crap."  
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Bruce's voice came behind me and the bottle levitated to my hand. No, he'd given it to me. Jeez, these hallucinations were weird.  
"I've had better days." I gulped the water, trying to avoid spilling it. "Where are we?"  
"You were out for quite a long time. We'll be soon in New York."

The jet landed briefly on a hospital roof. Apparently Agent Romanoff had made a call and informed the staff about my arrival, because two nurses were waiting for us to land. As soon as the plane's door opened the nurses came in and lifted me from the seat onto a stretcher. As tired and confused as I was, I couldn't mistake the worried expression on Bruce's face. The nurses begun to push me away from the plane towards a door. I turned my head do I could see Bruce. He lifted his hand and smiled a little.  
"Get well soon."  
"Bye."  
As I turned my head away, I catched a glimpse of him mouthing something. Cearly he thought I couldn't see him anymore, but I did. He'd said ' I love you '. Or had I hallucinated that, too?

The next week or so went in a blur. I lay on the bed in a room that I shared with a TV. I was heavily drugged for most of the time, but getting better day by day. I was staring at the TV screen, not really watching, when my nurse came in.  
"How are you today?" she asked with a smile, as she put a tray down on the small table in front of me.  
"Hi, Emily. I'm almost good, actually. A tad bit weak, but that's it." I averted my eyes from the screen and smiled at her. Then I looked at what she'd brought me. The bread looked dry and anemic, as usual, but the chocolate pudding seemed delicious. I grabbed the can and the plastic spoon and started eating.  
"That's good to hear." Emily said and adjusted the drip.  
"Could you leave the window open for a little while?"  
"Sure."  
She opened the window ans went to the door, looking back at me.  
"When you want the window closed, or just need something, push the button."  
"Will do." I answered with a little wave of my hand.

I had almost finished the pudding, when I heard some distant explosions from outside. I turned to look and true enough, I saw an enormous flying centipede a few blocks away. The cup dropped from my hands as I dashed out of the bed as quickly as I could. I almost put my nose against the window to see better.  
"What the hell?"  
The TV came into my aid then, for the news were full of the battle.  
_"-We don't know who these attackers are, but our sources tell they are from the outer space. The group fighting against them calls themselves "The Avengers", a group of famous superheroes including Iron Man, Thor, Hulk-"_

"Hulk?"  
That meant Bruce was in the fight too. I felt behind me with my hand and sat on my bed. At the moment I'd realised Bruce was figthing and my heart beat had sped up, the heart monitor started beeping annoyingly. Emily rushed into the room looking worried as she'd gotten a notification of an increased heart rate.  
"What happened? Are you okay?" she asked and put me into a laying position while checking the monitors.  
"I'm fine. I just... realised something and got upset...and the stupid machine picked it up right away." I blushed and tried not to look her in the eyes, this was awkward.  
"Oh, good." Emily chuckled a bit and glanced at the news. "Is it about that?" she pointed the TV. I nodded.  
"Someone I know—care about a great deal—is in there."  
Emily paused for a moment and looked at me sympatethically. She put her hand on my shoulder and smiled.  
"I'm sure everything is going to be fine. You just focus on getting better. Okay?"  
"Okay." I huffed.

–

When I woke in the morning I was sure I would get out of the hospital. If not today, then the next day, but they couldn't keep me for much longer here. I sat up and yawned while stretching. Then I remembered the news from yesterday and the worry came back. Some other nurse—the name tag told me he was Mike—came in and brought me my breakfast. I ate it in haste, since he confirmed that I would get out today. I asked if I could take a shower, and Mike showed me the way to the large bathroom that was for the patients.

I returned to my room after cleaning myself up. I'd changed into my own clothes and in general, I looked like a human being again. As I opened the door, I noticed someone sitting on the only chair in the room.  
"Bruce!" I breathed out, relieved. He was there and in one piece. Bruce smiled at me and rose from the chair to come to me. He didn't get too far, before I had ran to him and hugged him tightly.  
"You're all right! Thank goodness. I was so worried, when I saw the news yesterday." I smiled against his neck. Bruce was cautious about embracing me back, but eventually his hands circled my waist and he squeezed a little.  
"I could say the same thing. Well, execpt for the news part." he chuckled and stroked the back of my head tenderly. I giggled as I pulled a bit back so I could see his face. His eyes were so wonderfully warm brown and his smile was probably the most gorgeous smile I'd ever seen. I took my hands off of his back and wrapped them behind his neck.

"Can I kiss you?"  
Bruce stiffened a bit at my question, and seemed to think about it for a second, then nodded.  
"I think I can control The Other Guy even if my pulse gets too high."  
"Good." I said with a smile, closed my eyes and touched my lips to his. The kiss was short and sweet and I was very happy with it and about to pull back but Bruce catched my lips again, apparently having decided he could control The Hulk. He nibbed my bottom lip and I twined my fingers in his hair. Eventually we needed air, so we pulled apart.  
"Wow." I leaned my forehead against his and grinned. Bruce laughed and caressed my cheek.  
"Ready to go back to the world?" he asked.  
"Very."

So we left the hospital and entered the sunny New York. We didn't walk far before I heard a man yell, "Banner, wait up!"  
We turned around and soon I had been introduced to Tony Stark. Agent Romanoff walked toward us with two blond guys, but they didn't seem to hurry, so Tony had time to ask lots of questions. Most of them were like 'where'd you met' and 'what do you do'. Then as Agent Romanoff and the men catched up on us, Tony turned to them and said,  
"This is (F/N). She's Banner's girl so hands off, Birdman, Capsicle."  
I blushed at the statement and, as the 'Birdman' made an objection to Tony's remark and 'Capsicle' shook his head, I peeked at Bruce. He was blushing too, but since he didn't say anything, I took him by his hand. Our eyes met and he smiled. I turned back at the others.

"Uh, (F/N) (L/N). Nice to meet you." I offered my right, free hand to the unfamiliar man. He took it and squeezed firmly.  
"Clint Barton, nice to meet you too. Don't mind this clown, he doesn't know how to behave around new people."  
"Hey!" Tony mocked a hurt expression.  
"It's true, Stark."  
I shook my head a bit, amused.  
"Steve Rogers. It's a pleasure, ma'am." the other man shook my hand too and smiled warmly.  
"You were...Agent Romanoff, right?" I asked the red haired woman, whose upper lip curled as she watched Tony and Clint bicker. She turned her eyes to me and nodded.  
"Yes. Natasha Romanoff. Just call me Natasha." she smiled and shook my hand. I was surprised how much warmer she seemed now off duty than in India.  
"I heard you were down with malaria?" Steve asked cautiously and I nodded to confirm.  
"How are you feeling now?" he continued.  
"I'm fine." I looked at Bruce who was now half-hugging me against his side with one arm around my waist.  
"We're both all right." Bruce continued and kissed me.

* * *

AN: Thanks for a kind anon for correcting the Hindi in this chapter! :)


End file.
